


Barkeep

by StephanieRitaClark (StephirothWasTaken), StephirothWasTaken



Series: Whumptober 2020 [28]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Found Family, Gen, Whumptober 2020, kids in a bar, lame titles strike again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephanieRitaClark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephirothWasTaken/pseuds/StephirothWasTaken
Summary: Leo appreciates what he has: his unconventional family.
Relationships: Original Female Character & Original Male Character, Original Male Character & Original Male Character
Series: Whumptober 2020 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949482
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Barkeep

**Author's Note:**

> My lazy ass is finally posting these. After October, unfortunately.

Leo recalled how horrified he had been when he had heard his friend say, “Family is the worst.” He had not understood then that some people had horrible families, that he had a horrible family, and he was lucky he had found friends in similar or worse situations as him. They had given him a place to go when he had needed the reminder that life was a gift, and they had offered him a home when he had had no other place to go.

Perhaps a bar was not the best place for an underage kid to spend his time either, but as long as he stayed upstairs, he would not have to deal with the rowdy customers. Eva, the bar owner, would come upstairs and check on him, and she would make sure he was doing his homework. She had always insisted that she would not be any help to him if he needed help, but she had always helped him understand math.

Brian, the cook who insisted everyone call him “uncle,” ended up driving him around town a lot, usually to do perfectly legal things. He gave Leo his first beer. It had pissed Eva off, but the guy knew how to sweet talk himself out of every situation. Leo tried to imitate him, which annoyed Eva, too, but she was faster to forgive him than she was anyone else.

Brian and Eva had family of their own, people who had raised them but mostly left them to fend for themselves. Leo did not know the half of their pain, but he was glad he had stumbled across them as a boy. They had made sure he had not needed to fend for himself, too.

**Author's Note:**

> This is day twenty-eight of Whumptober2020, but I used an alternative prompt.
> 
> I am also posting these on [tumblr](https://stephanieritaclark.tumblr.com/post/630815305413902336/whumptober-2020-masterlist) and [tapas](https://tapas.io/series/In-Unsafe-Hands).
> 
> These prompts will also be used in a full-length novel that I am writing as well. It will have some nasty eldrich stuff that I'm excited to write about. You can stay up to date on that by signing up to my newsletter, which will also allow you to have a free short story called "Witch."  
> [Click here for the newsletter.](https://www.stephanieritaclark.com/sign-up/)


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